Pathways To Homelessness Among Caribbean Youth 15-25 In Toronto

Principal Organization: Ryerson University

Principal Investigator: Joseph Springer

Researchers conducted 34 interviews with Caribbean homeless youth in Toronto. The majority of their respondents were between the ages of 17-24, were unemployed, and had a grade 11 education on average. A common pathway to homelessness was a breakdown of the family or other key relationships, and for women this often involved abuse. Participants explained that any contact they had with the police was negative and believed it was strongly related to racism and discrimination. A key finding of the project was that race and racism were important elements to understanding youth homelessness in Canada.